For the first time ever, the Yankees are playing in Viera. Well, I suppose I should amend that to say a couple of Yankees are playing in Viera. The majority of the guys wearing the famous interlocked NY caps this afternoon will actually be spending their season in Scranton.

But Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano and A.J. Burnett did make the trip across the state from Tampa. So did Justin Maxwell, the former Terps and Nats outfielder who was traded to New York this winter and is now trying to catch on with the Bronx Bombers. Maxwell's numbers so far this spring: 4-for-20 with four walks and seven strikeouts.

John Lannan gets the ball for the Nationals, with Yunesky Maya slated to follow. Most of the regulars are in the lineup, including Michael Morse, who is "winning" the left field job so far, Jim Riggleman told reporters this morning.

Mickey Morse is finally getting some well-deserved credit—what took Riggleman so long??Did he say who's winning the job in CF. If the Flying Dutchman gets the nod, doesn't Nix make better bench strength than Morgan? Or is the echo of Morgan's half season in 2009 still reverberating in Rizzo-Riggleman's co-joined head?

People tend to put more reliance on most recent past performance than previous performances. And, generally, they do carry more weight. Still, Morgan's 2010 season alone should not extricate him from center field duties. He was fantastic in 2009, and that also deserves some consideration.Bernadina has yet to accomplish anything in the Major Leagues that significantly differentiates himself from Morgan. So, I have no idea why everyone is ready to hand over the center field position to Bernadina. It makes no sense.

The site is acting quirky for me again, but let's see if this goes through.Does Morse have "Duh, winning!" written inside his cap, as FP stated of Riggleman last night? Am not ready to weigh in on FP after just a couple of games, but I did think the Sheen reference was funny (although overall I find Sheen's situation kinda sad). I do miss Dibble, but that ship has sailed.

@sec 3,No, it's like that for everyone. WaPo is converting to a new blog system this afternoon. This will probably change the format of the comment section. Can't imagine why they're doing that (sarcasm).

@BinM: Morgan, Rodriguez, and Hernandez's bats are not in the lineup – for better or for worse. So, 4 projected opening day starters are not in the lineup, not just 1.Hernandez's bat? WHO??? He does hit well for a pitcher but …In defense of BinM, you are describing the politically correct figure head line up. Given the way Livo has been pitching I don't see him in the rotation for very long … and Pudge is the "figure head" mentor at catcher who might start opening day … however for the good of the team its best to play Ramos or Flores most of the time. Two sage old figure heads who can't lead this team to .500 ball playing as regulars.And Morgan had Bernadina, Ankiel, Nix and even Hairston to contend with now. He might just get optioned to AAA to keep working on his stuff. Bernadina's average has begun to fall …And Lannan looks a lot worst than Gorzelanny. Its a damned good thing Rizzo picked him up.

And I didn't hear the Sheen reference, but F.P. does sound tentative, as if he's not familiar with the players yet. Can't say I am hearing anything that gets my attention. And it sounds like Dibble sped up Carpenter's bat quite a bit–it feels like Bob is supplying about half the color, along with all the pxp.

Does anyone know if Nyjer has any options left? I am wondering if they are thinking about putting him in AAA to start the season? Plus what the heck are they going to do with the derth of other OF (Nix/Ankiel/Stairs/etc.)

I don't believe he does have option years remaining, but it seems unlikely they would put him in Syracuse. If they don't think he'll play close to his career norms, he's no use to them there, either. Especially with a sufficiency, if not surplus, of outfielders.

Is Mark Texiera seriously pitching? I know several people think the Yanks rotation/pen might be a source of problems for them this season, but are they really thinking about Tex as a pitcher? Is this where they move him after they sign Pujols?

@sec3, both Morgan and Bernadina have options. Ankiel and Nix do not but Nix is on a minor league contract. Then there's Corey Brown … he might have been the best choice at starter of all but for the bad luck of that sprained ankle. He'll likely join Bryce down in the minors and hopefully the two can create a gangbuster tandem in the outfield.

Morgan does have one option left and Bernadina as well. To be honest, I am hopeful that Harper spends a lot of time in CF this year because neither of these two have done enough IMO. Lots of people here jump on Nyjer but the reality is Bernadina has not had a full season in the majors and his numbers last year were not good at all. The one thing Nyjer does have are those two months when he joined us and went crazy. Doubt if he can get back to that spot but his is a .280 hitter in his ML career. Bottom line is one of these two will win the spot and we will have to do the best we can with that. It's funny that Rizzo said all along that Harper would start in low A and that is exactly what is happening. Guess he doesn't read the blogs to get the expert opinions from others. How dare he rely on his own scouts and personel, I mean JayB struck out against Roger Clemens and several others here tivo and watch the game two or three times. Guess I will just have to trust in Rizzo and Riggs.

grrr…missed the walkoff because of a DVR glitch. Was taping, doing chores around the house, rewinding to catch up. Then, when I got to the Norris AB in the bottom of the 9th – thud! End of recording. grrr… Oh, well. At least we spanked the Yanks.